Thursday, February 16, 2012

This studio portrait of an organetto player and his three sidemen was taken in Calitri on December 31 1911. New Years Eve. My first thought was, are they brothers? At second glance they they look more like the briganti of old than harmless songs men ... or what with their 3 piece suits complete with watch chains wide brimmed hats - Borsalini - and cigarettes conspicuously dangling, it could place them squarely in PR mode ... a photo-op for a new years night of song and dance? Hoping they'll get called back for a wedding?

From my earliest days visiting the village remembering zia Angelina happily singing to herself as we wandered together down a country road, away from la chiesetta di Santa Lucia, heading to who knows where ... or Vinicio Caposella's early CDs and live performances in the Piazza, to now & lately local friends and musicians Markardìa,playing the streets and festas around town;isonettidi Calitri and Irpinia have made their way deep into my veins ... here is one of my all time favorites ... Franc'schina la cal'trana

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About Me

L'Americana, whose grandparents landed at Ellis Island, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on Long Island. She lives in the hilltop village of Calitri, in remote Alta Irpinia, in the house where her grandmother was born.